In the last couple of days, several sources have confirmed that a number of high-ranking officials at the Attorney General's Office will resign to their positions. The Deputy Attorney General in charge of Special Investigations on Organized Crime (SIEDO) is among the officers who will be leaving office. It is possible that other deputies in charge of strategic departments will resign as well.
Although the changes at the heart of the Attorney General's Office have been announced as part of a structural change in the fight against organized crime, it seems that the resignations are the result of the lack of cooperation among the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry for Public Security, and the Attorney General's Office.
The dismissals not only represent a lack of coordination among Ministries, but also carry a signal about the power of Cabinet Ministers. Both the Minister of the Interior and the Minister for Public Security are close to President Felipe Calderon. Although the Attorney General is also close to the President, the agents at his Office have a reputation for corruption and cooperation with drug traffickers. This does not contribute to the flow of information between cabinet members in charge of national security. It seems that this was at the center of the current disagreements in the cabinet.
The public profile of the Attorney General's Office has also contributed to the crisis. First, the Attorney General's Office is in charge of the fight against kidnappers and other highly organized criminals that affect the general population. The results of the Office in this area are not spectacular. Second, the Attorney General's Office is known for its poor human rights record. Thus, the Office is constantly under the inspection of human rights organizations.
Recruiting new high-ranking officials will not be an easy task. Officers in national security usually develop rigid networks that are difficult to adapt to new leadership. This suggests that more dismissals at lower levels of the administration are likely to take place in the near future. Hopefully, this will not postpone the fight against drugs in Mexico.
